Second Inaugural Address of Governor Ruth Ann Minner
January 18, 2005
Distinguished former Governors, Delegate General from Quebec, Minister from Germany, Consul General from Israel, Deputy Chief from Sweden, Deputy Representative from Taiwan, President Pro Tem, Speaker, members of the General Assembly, Chief Justice, Chancellor, Family Court Judge, members of the judiciary, Lieutenant Governor Carney, other elected officials of Delaware, distinguished guests, my wonderful family and my fellow Delawareans, thank you for joining me today.
During this morning’s prayer service, we heard a reading from the late Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador. “This is what we are about,” he once said. “We plant seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise.”
The oath I took today is one I have recited 12 times now in a lifetime of public service. Well, half a lifetime. Up until age 32, I thought I would be content to simply raise my family, to tend to their futures. But then circumstance broadened my view. I saw that there were other families and other futures to fight for, and that I had been granted some of the talents for that fight.
I have toiled in state government for 30 years now, and I am proud to say that I have seen the fruits of some of my labors. The Delaware Agricultural Museum. Camp Lenape. The Land and Water Preservation Act. A childcare tax credit. Groves Adult High School. I have been fortunate to see many of the endeavors that have been important to me grow to maturity.
But as Archbishop Romero reminds us, part of the purpose of our lives is to sow seeds that we will not reap. That thought defines some of the accomplishments of my first term. Reading teachers in schools, Livable Delaware, our fight against cancer: these are initiatives whose impact will not be fully realized for years, if not decades.
I approach the next four years knowing that I am in a unique position. Even more than I have so far, I will make decisions without regard to their political popularity or consequence. I will do what is needed to sow the seeds of Delaware’s future.
These are my intentions:
We will complete the process of education reform in our state, ensuring that we have set every school firmly on a path of continuous improvement. We will provide our students with the teachers, the facilities and the tools they need. We will enhance the preparation that occurs before our children begin first grade, and we will guarantee a college education if they graduate well from high school.
We will make Delawareans healthier. We will reduce the disparities in health among the peoples of this state. Fewer people will get cancer, and fewer people will die from cancer.
We will ensure through Livable Delaware that development in our state’s future is more responsible than in its recent past. Less pollution will go into our air and water and less trash will go into our growing landfills. We will continue to save open space and farmland for tomorrow, and will ensure that those efforts can continue after I am gone.
We will continue to create jobs, with new corporate citizens that recognize Delaware as one of the best places in the world to do business and by nurturing and growing our existing companies.
We will make Delawareans safer.
We will make state government more effective and efficient.
These pledges are simple and straightforward, but fulfilling them will not be. I hope to continue the tradition of working together, regardless of party, that has served the state well for the last several decades. I will be the last to give up hope of forging responsible compromise when progress is needed. I will be the first to call attention to petty politics that is not in the people’s interest.
Four years ago, it was my daughters-in-law and then my sons who held my Bible as I recited my oath. Today, it was my grandchildren: Lisa, Michelle, Wayne, Kristine, Brandon, Jarod, and Emily. Because it is their lives, their Delaware that I will be thinking of for the next four years.
My great-grandchildren Bryce, Trevor and Haley are 9, 6 and 2. The land we preserve and the air and water we clean today must still be preserved and clean when they are grown. The economic climate we create today must sustain our state until it is time for them and their generation to work.
The improvements in health we make today must allow all our grandchildren to live stronger lives than we have. And students in schools today must be well prepared to become the scientists, CEOs and governors of their time – that is, if Haley doesn’t become governor herself.
“We plant seeds that one day will grow” is what Archbishop Romero said.
In the Old Testament, or as my Jewish friends call it, the Torah, it is written, “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed.”
Thoreau put it: “He who eats the fruit should at least plant the seed, if possible a better seed than that whose fruit he has enjoyed.”
But for Ruth Ann Minner, farmer, gardener and daughter of a sharecropper, it is simply this: Work hard. Do the right thing. And leave things better than you found them.
I thank my family and friends for their love and support. I thank Lieutenant Governor Carney for his friendship and help. I thank my Cabinet, staff and state employees for their dedication. I thank the members of the General Assembly for their commitment and leadership. I thank the many volunteers over 30 years who helped me achieve this office. And I send a special thank you and recognition to those who serve in our armed forces today, especially those serving in the Delaware National Guard.
But, most of all, I thank the people of Delaware for the opportunity to serve. I look forward to the work of the next four years and to the future we will grow – together.
Thank you.
